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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Wow what a wild and crazy week it has been already and its not even halfway over! My most sincere, heartfelt apologies for not posting Tasty Tuesdays on Tuesday this week. I was working on the recipe and getting ready to add some pictures when my internet service crashed and did not reappear until this morning. Apparently it was a problem with my local provider and w/o the ability to add pictures, and nary a Starbucks in sight, Tasty Tuesdays, has for this week become Tasty Wednesdays.

Summer is officially here in Oklahoma and yesterday reached a balmy 90 degrees. This weather always gets me in the mood to go camping with the kids, which will soon take place, and cook outdoors in my Dutch ovens. Many people know what Dutch ovens are and many more do not. You may have heard about them as a child and have a vague understanding but you just don't really remember what they are all about. Dutch ovens are a thick walled cooking pot, often cast iron, in my case aluminum, ovens with a tight fitting lid. You can use them in your oven, or outdoors with coals from your campfire to cook your food. I use mine year round and cook with charcoal briquettes. Ok, enough about explanations, lets get to the recipe!

I call this recipe "Breakfast Casserole" because that's just what it is. It is super easy to make and is also Gluten Free! The ingredients are as follows:

2 large potatos grated

Shredded cheese

8 oz of Sausage (or your favorite breakfast meat)

8 - 10 eggs

Salt & Pepper

1 Small bag of charcoal briquettes

1 Aluminum Dutch oven 10" or your favorite casserole dish

If using your kitchen oven, preheat to 375 - 400 degrees. If using charcoal, light the briquettes and let them just ash over. You will need approximately 20 - 25 for the correct temperature. If you let them burn too long, they will not last long enough to cook your dish. When I cook with them, I usually have a pan of briquettes burning on the side so I can add to them if I run low or need to add heat to my dish.

In a medium pan, brown your sausage, or other breakfast meat, drain, and set aside.

If you haven't done so already, grate your potatos and set aside.

Use a very light coat of oil on the interior of the Dutch oven so you won't have any sticking.

Place a generous layer of shredded potatos on the bottom of Dutch oven.

Follow with a generous layer of sausage and another layer of potatos.

Top off with a generous layer of shredded cheese. To make this correctly, you will want the cheese to form a barrier when melted.

If cooking in your kitchen oven, your temperature will approximately 375 - 400 degrees. If making outdoors as I prefer, you will need 12 - 13 briquettes on the bottom of your oven and 8 - 9 on the top. You will want to cook in a sheltered area away from the wind.

Let cook approximately 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and just starting to get crispy with a touch of brown on the edge

When the cheese is melted and ready, crack your eggs in a large bowl and whip until blended.

Pour eggs on top of melted cheese and cover, adding heat for approximately 20 minutes until eggs are firm. When I say adding heat, you will need to have a total of 13 -14 briquettes on top of your Dutch Oven to cook the eggs.

When done correctly with plenty of cheese (I didn't take my own advice here because I was low on cheese and didn't want to go to the store) the eggs will cook on top of the casserole and be a top layer.

I love my Dutch ovens and actually get excited about cooking with them. I don't know what it is about cooking in them but your food will taste immeasurably different than the exact same dish cooked indoors. This is one of our absolute favorites and we make it probably once a month. My kids love it and it's great left over. Enjoy!!

This post is part of the following blog carnivals........Go check out these great sites!!